In the past week or so I’ve been helping the Antioch College newspaper, The Record, getting an online presence. I set up a wordpress blog, found a theme that worked and some plugins to help things along, I’m actually quite proud with where it’s at right now.
So far i’m just copying articles out of their PDF’s and pasting them in but as I go I’m figuring out ways to do things better and making tweaks to the layout. So I’m posting this link here in a blatant attempt to get search engines, as well as possibly interested parties who haven’t seen it yet, to swing on by and check it out.
(Note: Shortly after this site went live the college sent a ‘cease and decist’ letter. Read the comments below for more info)
Here is a transcription of the ‘letter’ (so any typos are probably not in the original). I’m copying some stuff I posted on livejournal over here so it’s all in one place.
-Matt
—–
Office of the President
October 27, 2006
Luke Brennan
Co-Editor
The Antioch Record
Main Building
Antioch College
Yellow Springs, OH 45387
Foster Neill
Co-Editor
The Antioch Record
Main Building
Antioch College
Yellow Springs, OH 45387
Matthew Baya
Ellsworth, ME 04605
Matt Mullenweg
WordPress
San Francisco, CA 94105
Gentleman:
It has recently come to my attention that the Antioch Record is being published without legal authoerization and in violation of state and federal law on the Internet at the website http://www.antiochrecord.org.
The owner of this web site is Mattew Baya. Mr Baya is a former Antioch College student and was previously employed by the college as a community manager. He has no present connection to the College. The web site states that it is powered by “wordpress.org.”
In addition, the use of Antioch University trademarks on this web site, including specifically the names “Antioch,” “Antioch Record,” or Antioch University,” is a violation of the federal and state laws designed to protect tthe intellectual property and corresponding proprietary rights of Antioch University. Moreover, the use of the Antioch trademarks on this web site in a manner that suggests that the web site is approved, sponsored and/or affiliated with the Antioch University is a false designation or origin under the Federal Lanham Act.
For these reasons, you are hereby directed to immediately cease and desist from using this or any other web site to publish any portion of the Antioch Record. You are further directed to immediately cease and permanently desist from any further use of Antioch University trademarks, including specifically the names “Antioch,” “Antioch Record,” “Antioch College,” or “Antioch University.”
I am requesting that each of you provide me with a written response indicating the date on which you have complied with these directives. This repsonse should be provided no later than November 6, 2006.
Finally, please be advised that Antioch University is prepared to take legal action if necessary to preserve its rights to its intellectual property and enforce the directives in this letter.
Sincerely
[signature]
Steve Lawry
President
SL:nmw
Copied from: http://community.livejournal.com/antioch_college/42034.html?thread=187442#t187442
My letter to Steve
2006-10-31 05:28 pm UTC
Well it’s been about 36 hours since I sent this to Steve so I’m guessing it’s not going to get a response. Posting a copy here so there’s a record of what efforts were made to resolve this. This wouldn’t fit in one comment so I’m breaking it into two, sorry for the hassle.
Dear Mr. Lawry –
Greetings, I’m the Antioch alumnus that is assisting The Record in establishing an online presence. It is my understanding there is a legal ‘cease and decist’ type letter en route to me regarding the antiochrecord.org website. I haven’t seen this letter yet and thus only know parts of it second hand from the editors. I was hoping you and I could talk directly and come up with some solution to this that doesn’t involve shutting this site down and addresses your concerns about the site.
Before I continue I wanted to introduce myself a little. We’ve never met, I’ve been unable to attend a reunion lately. I graduated from Antioch with a BS in Computer Science & Communications in 1992. I was a Community Manager from ’92-’93, worked as the Asst. to the Dean of Students from ’93 – ’96 and was the Asst. Director of Technology Resources from ’96 – ’97. I was on the alumni board from ’97 – ’00. Jimmy Williams, Bob Devine and Susan Eklund-Leen can all vouch that I’m a reliable, sane, and reasonable person and would never do anything to harm Antioch. I love the college and I was just trying to assist in an area that seemed like it needed help and that I had the skills that could make a difference.
My goal in assisting the Record to get online was to allow alumni and students on coop to access this campus publication easily. Due to technical constraints and lack of access, editors for the past year have not been able to update the colleges Record website. I am trying to establish a setup where it will be easy for future editors to publish online. I have put over 15 hours into setting this up so far and had planned do put in dozens more getting the rest of this terms issues online. There are other alumni assisting with other parts of this project, helping organize PDF versions of the Record and addressing technical issues with the layout process and printing to hopefully make the editors jobs a little easier. This seemed like an area where we could really help the college without any costs or staff time (two resources I know are precious on campus). I am not profitting from this, all bandwidth and hosting costs associated with this website are being covered by me alone. No ads are on the website and if they were ever added all money would go straight to the Record directly.
I have been forwarded a copy of your letter to Levi B. Cowperthwaite in response to his letter to you about this issue that includes the sentence “Posting the the Record on a website must be done with the permission of the appropriate authorities at the College.” I did all of this in coordination with this terms editors so I didn’t feel I wasn’t working with Antioch about this. It was my understanding they had the rights to publish the Record online since this had been done in past terms (and part of their job description in the Community Government Legislative Code actually mentions this) and the only hurdle here was a technical / time one. I have since noticed the college’s existing Record website has been taken down, so perhaps I am incorrect in this assumption. If you can clarify this at all I would appreciate it.
Regarding this issue here are a few things I am willing to do in hopes it addresses the concerns you may have about the antiochrecord.org website:
1) Transferring the ownership of the domain antiochrecord.org to Antioch College has been completed. It had initially been in my name, but the intent has always been to have the domain transferred to an appropriate unit at Antioch College. I remain as the technical contact since I am currently running the website, I can change this to a college or university employee if necessary.
2) I would also be happy to give the administrative password to this account to Gare Calhoun, the Antioch University webmaster.
3) I am also pretty sure we could move this entire site over to Antioch’s webserver.
4) Since this is the Record’s website I would of course follow any directions given to me by the editors, CM’s or ComCil regarding publishing procedures and content.
One point of information, I have heard a letter was also sent to Matt Mullenwag. Matt has no connection to Antioch or this site, he is simply the author of the free software I used to setup this website. While I hope it won’t be necessary, if there are any other legal communications required in this exchange, he should be removed from list of addresses.
In the same letter to Levi B. Cowperthwaite you ended it with “Surely, this problem can be easily remedied. “. I am also hoping this is the case. Please let me know if any or all of the actions listed above would address this, or if there is anything else I can do to alleviate your concerns while still helping the Record maintain an online presence that meets the same degrees of accessibility that the current site offers. It is my understanding that a number of alumni were very happy about this site and to just turn it off at this point would cause some unrest. I am hoping that this letter opens up a direct clear channel of communication between us and that we can reach some agreements on how to proceed here.
Thank you for your time
-Matthew Baya ’92
AntiochRecord.Org shut down – ‘I fought the Lawry and the Lawry won’
Since Steve refused to answer questions about what needed to be done in order to keep the Record online, the site has been disabled before the deadline stated in the letter (11/6). Google will probably have parts of it cached for sometime though. The site currently redirects to the Record’s home page on the Antioch College website which was also recently removed.
One of the editors that I’ve chatted with said he thought it would be a good idea if alumni wrote the president stating they would like to have the Record online. I personally doubt this will make a difference but if you feel so moved, drop a note to slawry@antioch-college.edu and tell him what you think.
Personally I am surprised that ComCil didn’t step in and ask some heavy questions on this issue, specifically was the old Record website taken down and what conditions need to be met in order to get the Record back online (including past issues). Apparently ComCil didn’t think this was their purvue or was unwilling to get involved with this. Great. I did also propose to the editors & the CM the creative commons solution Brian mentioned earlier but apparently ComCil never discussed this either.
I believe until a website is set up there may be some movement to e-mail PDF copies of the Record out but I don’t know any specifics, you can always e-mail record@antioch-college.edu to find out more about this.
There has been talk here about having an alternate online publication but since the college is asserting that we cant include any content from the Record on any website, this would have to completely unique to be viable. I’m not saying I’m against it but it seems silly to have 2 publications.
No good deed goes unpunished. 🙁
-Matt
You can read all about what happened with this here: http://community.livejournal.com/antioch_college/42034.html
Steve Lawry’s response to record issue
Dear Antioch College Community:
There has been some comment and controversy over steps taken by the College to ask a College alumnus and the editors of the Antioch Record to cease publication of the Record on a website (anitochrecord.org) not associated with the College or the College’s website. Posting of the paper on this website was done without the permission of the College or without the benefit of consultation with College administrators. Moreover, College’s legal counsel advised me that the posting was in violation of the College’s trademark and intellectual property rights to the Record. While one can appreciate the initiative shown by those involved in putting the Record on the web, I have a responsibility as College president to protect the College’s rights to the name of the College and to publications produced by the College, and ultimately to how they are distributed publicly, including on the web. I appreciate the positive response of Matthew Baya and the Record’s editors to my request to cease publication of the Record on a website not belonging to or associated with the College.
I am keen that the Record be available on the web. That said, there are a number of concerns that senior College staff are discussing with the Record Advisory Board that, in my view, need resolution before the Record is posted on the web. These relate to the need for an editorial policy that, among other things, insures that the Record fully serves its educational purposes and that it properly reflects the goals and values of an institution dedicated to human betterment. I have raised concerns over the course of this term about publication in the Record of remarks, offered anonymously, that are menacing and threatening in character and that demean members of the Antioch community. While we have an obligation to support free speech, we also have an obligation to subject what we are saying and its impacts on others to thoughtful and rational scrutiny. These purposes, free speech and critical reflection, will be served once the Record has in place an editorial policy. Discussions are continuing with the RAB, and I am very satisfied with the positive spirit and progress of those discussions.
I appreciate the remarks sent by alumni and others on this matter and am always pleased to hear directly from you.
Sincerely,
Steven Lawry
President
Antioch College
795 Livermore Street
Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387
Phone: (937) 769-1260
Fax: (937) 769-1288
Email: slawry@antioch-college.edu
Website: http://www.antioch-college.edu
Record site is back up : http://recordonline.org/